Surgical face mask



Oct. g, 1956 P. A. RAICHE SURGICAL FACE MASK Filed Jan. 4. 1954 INVENTOR.

United rates Patent SURGICAL FACE MASK Paul A. Raiche, North Providence, R. L, assignor to Davol Rubber Company, a corporation of Rhode Island Application January 4, 1954, Serial No. 401,992

2 Claims. (Cl. 128147) The present invention relates to surgical respiratory and anesthetic apparatus, and has particular reference to a novel face mask therefor.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a surgical face mask which is yieldingly adjustable to fit in sealing relation to the face.

Another object of the invention is to provide a onepiece surgical face mask which includes a yieldable but firm cone with a flexible metallic core and a face engaging rim of soft, very yieldable material, the mask having a continuous outer coating of latex or similar flexible material, and the core, rim and coating being integrally locked together.

A further object of the invention is to simplify the construction of an improved surgical face mask and thus decrease the cost of manufacture thereof.

With the above and other objects and advantageous features in view, the invention consists of a novel arrangement of parts and a novel method of manufacture, more fully disclosed in the detailed description following, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and more specifically defined in the claims appended thereto.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an illustrative surgical face mask, made in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a cut or stamped blank for forming the cone core;

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the blank of Fig. 2, folded and locked in cone shape;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the rim material;

Fig. 5 is an elevation showing the mounting of the rim material on the lower edge of the cone core;

Fig. 6 is a view of the face mask produced by dipping the structure of Fig. 5 in latex or the like to provide an outer coating and to lock the parts together; and

Fig. 7 is an enlarged section on the line 77 of Fig. 6.

It has been found desirable to provide a surgical face mask which has a firm but resilient cone, with a very flexible face engaging rim and an overall coating or surfacing of rubber or the like, the parts being locked together into a one-piece article. To this end, I form a cone of shaped metal screening, and I mount a soft rim of sponge rubber or the like on the cone; the assembly is then dipped in latex or a similar rubber or plastic solution to provide an outer continuous coating which efiectively locks the parts together into a one-piece surgical Patented Oct. 9, 1956 mask, to which the standard gas connection parts may be readily attached.

Referring to the drawings, the surgical face mask 10 includes a cone portion 11 and a face engaging rim portion 12, the upper end of the cone portion being provided with gas supply connections 13 of standard type.

The cone portion is preferably formed from a stamped or cut blank 14 made of a foraminated flexible material, such as for example metal screening, the blank being semi-circular, with a small semi-circular cut 15 on the diametrical side thereof, and a nose recess 16 and a chin recess 17 on the outer periphery thereof. The blank 14 is bent into cone shape to provide a core 18, see Fig. 3, the edges overlapping and being stapled by edge staples 19 or the like.

A round strip 20 of very flexible material, as for example sponge rubber, is provided with a longitudinal slot 21 extending radially inward, and permitting mounting as a rim on the lower edge 22 of the core 18, see Fig. 3; the rim may be locked to the core by stitching or in other suitable manner if desired.

The assembled core and rim is now dipped in latex or other suitable natural or synthetic rubber solution, or in a suitable plastic material, to provide an outer flexible coating 23 which completely envelopes the core and rim, and which extends through the apertures of the metal screening, as shown in Fig. 7, to lock the coating to the core, whereby the core, rim and coating form a unitary mask.

Although I have disclosed a specific method for the manufacture of a specific surgical face mask, it is obvious that changes in the steps of the method and in the size, shape, material and arrangement of the mask parts may be made to meet different requirements for face masks and the like, without departing from the spirit or the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In the manufacture of surgical face masks, the steps of forming a core of foraminated firm resilient material into cone shape, mounting a strip of very yieldable resilient material having a longitudinal slot to receive the lower edge of the core, and coating the core and the rim in a flexible material such as rubber or plastic to provide an outer coating locking the rim to the core, and to extend through the foraminations to lock the coating to the core.

2. A one-piece surgical face mask, having a coneshaped core of foraminated firm resilient material, a strip of very yieldable resilient material having a longitudinal slot receiving the lower edge of the core, and an over-all coating of a flexible material such as rubber or plastic, the coating material extending through the foraminations.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,359,073 King Nov. 16, 1920 1,632,449 McKesson June 14, 1927 FOREIGN PATENTS 86,496 Austria Dec. 10, 1921 240,729 Great Britain Oct. 8, 1925' 

